A couple I know have set up an interesting rule: Bitching only between 4:30 and 5:00, with steep fines for violations. Hmm. This is an intriguing situation. A lot of people I know, myself included, spend a lot of time and energy bitching about the world and its problems.
With the state of affairs as it is today there is no lack of things to analyze and worry about: Religion, politics, climate change, weather, food quantity and quantity, wars, drugs. The list goes on and on. And people that think about these things usually have strong opinions about them. I do and so do my friends and most of my acquaintances. Conversations often begin with something like “I heard on NPR this morning” or “T read on the NY Times page this morning”. What follows is usually a dissection with opinions, which can be thought of as bitching in some sense or another.
So when this couple, the wife in fact, got tired of the more or less constant stream of “analysis” the rule got discussed and implemented. My wife heard about it and passed it on. A hint? My initial reaction was positive: “Good idea. Wanna try it?” My next reaction was not so positive: “Wait a minute. If I can’t “analyze” I’ll be mute.”
I have been thinking about this for a few days and realize I really would be mute if I confined my conversation to non-controversial things and left out my opinions and ideas. My world these days revolves around the greater community of the world itself, which I see as going in spectacularly wrong directions. I see it being driven to the brink or indeed possibly over the brink, of disaster in almost every instance.
I rail about the lack of intelligence of many people that are easily led to feed the selfish desires of despotic creeps. The overreliance of many on the “deus ex machina” of religion to solve or remove problems of nearly or very possibly completely, insurmountable problems. Or just the ignorant ignoring (same root?) of the facts. The truth.
I decided that I couldn’t in good conscience keep silent. So I rant and rave and point out problems and worry about everything, and by doing this keep somewhat sane.
Hell, even this is a rant of some kind. See, just can’t keep quiet.
Image: www. cheezburger.com
With the state of affairs as it is today there is no lack of things to analyze and worry about: Religion, politics, climate change, weather, food quantity and quantity, wars, drugs. The list goes on and on. And people that think about these things usually have strong opinions about them. I do and so do my friends and most of my acquaintances. Conversations often begin with something like “I heard on NPR this morning” or “T read on the NY Times page this morning”. What follows is usually a dissection with opinions, which can be thought of as bitching in some sense or another.
So when this couple, the wife in fact, got tired of the more or less constant stream of “analysis” the rule got discussed and implemented. My wife heard about it and passed it on. A hint? My initial reaction was positive: “Good idea. Wanna try it?” My next reaction was not so positive: “Wait a minute. If I can’t “analyze” I’ll be mute.”
I have been thinking about this for a few days and realize I really would be mute if I confined my conversation to non-controversial things and left out my opinions and ideas. My world these days revolves around the greater community of the world itself, which I see as going in spectacularly wrong directions. I see it being driven to the brink or indeed possibly over the brink, of disaster in almost every instance.
I rail about the lack of intelligence of many people that are easily led to feed the selfish desires of despotic creeps. The overreliance of many on the “deus ex machina” of religion to solve or remove problems of nearly or very possibly completely, insurmountable problems. Or just the ignorant ignoring (same root?) of the facts. The truth.
I decided that I couldn’t in good conscience keep silent. So I rant and rave and point out problems and worry about everything, and by doing this keep somewhat sane.
Hell, even this is a rant of some kind. See, just can’t keep quiet.
Image: www. cheezburger.com
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